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Home Archives for National Politics

11/25/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio Returns Tonight at 9 PM

Tune in at 9 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the second edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio, as Joshua, El Presidente, Night Twister, and I work to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump (also known as proving "you may be right, we (really) may be crazy.") Special guest is slated to be Red County's Michael Kerr from the great Pacific Northwest. Perhaps Michael can cite experiences from King County, Washington, to shed light on the current recount in Minnesota. Don't forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight's show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Blog Talk Radio, crazy, download, El Presidente, Joshua Sharf, King County, Michael Kerr, Minnesota, Night Twister, Pacific Northwest, podcast, recount, Red County, Right, Rocky Mountain Alliance, sidebar, sophomore slump, special guest, widget

11/24/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Hmmm…Will Al Franken Find His Winning Recount Votes in Time?

Powerline has the latest update on the Norm Coleman-Al Franken recount saga. Not exactly the grand Florida melodrama of eight years ago. Nor does the angry, foul-mouthed comedian seem to have much reason to be less angry than usual. As I write this, Coleman's pre-recount lead of 206 now stands at 210 with 77 percent of the ballots totaled. According to Powerline, though, many of the untallied votes will come from Minneapolis precincts. Stuart Smalley Al Franken has to hope that some of the Twin Cities' deceased cousins in Chicago, Philadelphia, or King County, Washington, might have made a last-minute trek there to cast a vote for him from beyond the grave. ("I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and darn it, dead people like me.") Maybe a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, General, National Politics Tagged With: Al Franken, angry, ballots, Barack Obama, bone up, box, brilliant, Chicago, comedian, Congress, dead, December 2, Democrats, dumpster, firewall, foul-mouthed, Georgia, impulses, King County, Left, Minneapolis, Nate Silver, Norm Coleman, Philadelphia, Powerline, precincts, President-elect, reading material, recount, regression analysis, runoff election, Saxby Chambliss, timely, Twin Cities, votes

11/23/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Do Social Cons and Libertarians Have More in Common Politically?

Lately I feel like I've been doing a lot of refereeing and discussion about the libertarian-social conservative debate. Along those lines, I believe my readers would gain a lot of insights from this American Thinker essay by libertarian Randall Hoven:Social conservatism is taking a beating lately. Not only did it lose in the recent elections, it is being blamed for the Republican losses. If only the religious right would get off the Republican Party's back, the GOP could win like it is supposed to again. I beg to differ. I'm anything but a social conservative. In nine presidential elections, I voted Libertarian in six. I am a hard core "limited government" conservative/libertarian; I want government out of my pocket-book and out of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, General, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: American Thinker, Bible, clearer perspective, common, conclusion, conservative, debate, essay, evidence, excellent points, GOP, humility, influence, insights, libertarian, limited government, love of liberty, political alliance, Randall Hoven, religion, Religious Right, Republican Party, social conservative, wilderness

11/22/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

Victory in Iraq

I'm late in getting to it, but now is a good time to acknowledge November 22, 2008, as Victory in Iraq Day. Zombie has details. It has been a long, hard slog over there, and we owe the men and women who served there more than we can repay. Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq most certainly have not died in vain. Victory In Iraq: The Obamamedia may not notice for many, many weeks. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, National Politics, World Events Tagged With: Iraq, notice, November 22, Obamamedia, victory, Victory in Iraq Day

11/20/2008 By Ben 3 Comments

Colorado GOP Should Heed Kafer and Hillman, Not Parker and Huckabee

This week's two prime examples of self-serving guns on the Right pointing inward? On the one hand, Kathleen Parker caricaturing and lambasting me and millions of evangelical Christians:To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh. Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party.... It isn't that culture doesn't matter. It does. But preaching to the choir produces no converts. And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican Party -- and conservatism with it -- eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one's heart … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: annoying, armband religion, Beltway cocktailk parties, caricaturing, Colorado, culture, demagogic, economic populism, evangelical Christians, Faux-Cons, fiscal conservative, former presidential candidate, GOP coalition, gripe, humility, influential voices, Jon Henke, Kathleen Parker, Krista Kafer, lambasting, leaders, Liberalism, libertarianism, Mark Hillman, Mike Huckabee, political action, political wilderness, preaching to the choir, privacy, publish, religious faith, Republican Party, reservation, Right, right-wing, Ron Paul, self-serving guns, shifting demographics, shut up, social conservatives, tax increase, Time magazine

11/16/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Okay, Barack Obama and I agree on “Team of Rivals” … So What?

For those who believe I have nothing good to say about our President-elect Barack Obama. He at least has some good taste in contemporary historical literature:It so happens that Obama and New York Sen. Clinton share a reverence for "Team of Rivals," Doris Kearns Goodwin's book about how Lincoln brought foes into his fold. Clinton listed it during the campaign as the last book she had read. Obama, clearly a student of Lincoln, spoke of it several times. Now past could be prologue. Obama is considering Clinton for secretary of state or another senior position, meeting John McCain on Monday to see how his Republican presidential rival might help him in the Senate, and sizing up one-time opponents in both parties for potential … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General, History, My Life, National Politics Tagged With: Abraham Lincoln, appointments, Barack Obama, breathless comparisons, Cabinet, Democrat, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Hillary Clinton, historical literature, Joe Biden, President-elect, presidential rival, Team of Rivals

11/15/2008 By Ben 5 Comments

Whimsical Case for a “Progressive” Third Party to Replace the GOP

Are you up for a little distracting whimsy? A former elected official, Boulder attorney and self-proclaimed "former Republican" (one of the more popular descriptors being bandied about these days) offers this (over) dose of elitist smugness, painful self-indulgence, overwrought rhetoric, and selective historical knowledge:I was a Republican for 28 years. Like so many others who now vote Democratic, I didn’t leave the party — it left me. Based on the analyses of this month’s election, it also left college graduates, suburbanites and Hispanics in the red-state dust. The sad fact is that a map of the few counties that voted more Republican than they did in 2004 neatly overlays maps showing the nation’s highest rates of obesity, poverty … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Fiscal Policy, General, History, National Politics Tagged With: aging former politicians, bad earmark habit, Bill Kaufman, Bill O'Reilly, Bob Greenlee, Boulder attorney, buyers' remorse, Congress, credibility, daily dose, distracting whimsy, Don Ament, Dottie Wham, elected official, emergence, fiscal conservatism, former Republican, gays, God, GOP, guns, Hank Brown, healthy chuckle, historical knowledge, humorous, inversion of reality, John Buechner, liberty, Nancy Spence, Norma Anderson, Pat Hayes, Paul Schauer, permanent tax increase, platform, profligate spending, Progressive Party, quixotic crusade, reasonable people, reasonable voters, rebuilding, Referendum C, Republican Party, rhetoric, Rush Limbaugh, Scott McInnis, Sean Hannity, self-indulgence, self-inflicted wound, sell-out, smugness, third party, Tom Norton

11/13/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bad Bill of the Decade Nominee: The So-Called Employee Free Choice Act

With Barack Obama as President and a growing Senate Democratic majority that seems to tick up with each passing day, it looks like the union bosses may get their disastrous and poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act after all. Here is the latest video offering (compliments of the Employee Freedom Action Committee) to remind everyone what we very well could be in store for: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics Tagged With: Barack Obama, creative, Democratic majority, Employee Free Choice Act, Employee Freedom Action Committee, President, Senate, union bosses, video, YouTube

11/13/2008 By Ben 2 Comments

Who is the “Least Favorite” Person on the Right? And Whom Did I Vote For?

Breaking: The annual center-right blogger poll of "Least Favorite People on the Right" - brought to you by John Hawkins at Right Wing News - has been released. Each of the 46 center-right bloggers who participated submitted an unranked list of 12 nominees. The top 25 names - from "McCain staffers" to John McCain - have been released as part of the poll. For the first time I was a participant in the poll. Of the 12 names I suggested, 11 appear in the top 25. Personally, I don't consider a few of the other names to be "on the Right" - a loose designation, to be sure, and of necessity. Anyway, thought you may find the results interesting. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, General, National Politics Tagged With: bloggers, John Hawkins, John McCain, Least Favorite People, McCain staffers, poll, Right Wing News, unranked list

11/12/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Debt-Free GOP Can Thank Wadhams; Now to Focus on Grassroots Rebuilding

From this morning's Denver Post, the best case for keeping Dick Wadhams as the state GOP chairman:For the first time since 2002, the Colorado Republican Party can say it's debt-free. Covering the party's $580,000 in debts is a testament to Dick Wadhams' hard work, commitment, and connections. In the absence of any more viable alternatives, a pledge from Wadhams to focus his energy on the 2010 statehouse races ought to make him the frontrunner to keep the job. That being said, for all our sakes, I hope that Wadhams and the state GOP staff are attuned to the debate going on at The Next Right and prepared to plug into the growing coalition at Rebuild the Party. Not to mention the good advice of thoughtful folks like hard-working … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, National Politics Tagged With: 2010, advice, alternatives, candidate, coalition, Colorado, commitment, connections, debate, debt-free, Denver Post, Dick Wadhams, frontrunner, GOP chairman, hard work, Joshua Sharf, pledge, Rebuild the Party, staff, statehouse races, The Next Right

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

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